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Happy New Year to everyone! Wish you all the best for this year, but most importantly, I wish you to be healthy and around your families! Also, stay safe!

Maybe for some of you Santa was kind enough and brought you new electronic devices such as a new laptop, desktop, iPad, tablet or smartphone. That sounds exciting, but have you thought what are you going to do with your old electronic device? Giving it away to charity? Selling it on a classified website, or giving it to a family member or friend? In any of these cases you should first be sure that you are not involuntarily sharring your private info and data. For this reason, E-Crime Expert presents again today some tips on how to remove this personal data from your old electronic device before being given away.

Please watch this video tutorial here:

More details are provided bellow:

A large volume of electronic data is stored on computer systems and electronic media. Much of this data consists of confidential and sensitive information, including patient records, financial data, personnel records, and research information.

If you are with a company or organization that accepts donations or properly dismantles computers, electronics, or hard drives, take them there.

If you have a computer or computer equipment that you believe is beyond repair or is too old to be useful take it to a dismantling centre.

Many computer manufacturers and computer hardware manufactures also have their own recycling or trade in programs. When you buy a new computer you could perhaps trade in the old one.

All computer systems, electronic devices and electronic media should be properly cleared of sensitive data and software before being transferred from you to another seller or dismantling centre.

Computer hard drives should be cleared by using software and then be physically destroyed. Non-rewritable media, such as CDs or non-usable hard drives, should be physically destroyed (ie. scratched, broken into pieces).

Try to destroy or dismantle you hard drive, external hard drive, printer, fax, cell phone, computer, camera, web camera, GPS, laptop because all these devices have internal memory where sensitive data is still stocked even if properly deleted manually or with a software.

When you sell an old laptop or PC, try first to “format” your device and reinstall the operating system- If you are not able to do this, at least try to DELETE:

All your photos, videos, music files, located on the following folders: Desktop or My Documents, My Music, My videos (Movies),

Sync Services folder used for cloud computing or to sync with other devices

Address book

Note: these folders are available on a MacBook Pro device (with Snow Leopard OS), the order or name of the folders may differ from computer to computer or from one operating system to another. But the principle is the same.

When you sell your used cellular phone try to do a “factory data reset” and all the information and personal settings will be removed. This is mandatory when you sell your used device.

Step 1: go to settings

Step 2: select SD&phone storage

Step 3: select Factory data reset

This should reset all your information on your phone.

Note: these folders are available on HTC Desire running on Android version 2.2.